Archive for March, 2004
The caption says it’s from today in Mosul. Notice the Camelbak on the trooper on the left. (via Stryker Brigade News)
As I’ve said, I won’t really be covering day-to-day Stryker news since Stryker Brigade News has it covered 24/7. That’s the place to go.
UPDATE: Todd at Stryker Brigade News comments
Notice also the additional Arrowhead patch on the right shoulder – the brigade just received their combat patches.
I had noticed the patch above the US flag, but I must admit that I didn’t realize exactly what it meant. Now I do.
When a soldier has been in combat, as officially defined by they Army, he earns the right to wear the patch of the unit we was in combat with on his right shoulder above the US flag. Soldiers always wear their current unit’s patch on their left shoulder, but they are also allowed to wear one combat patch (of any unit) that they have previously earned on their right shoulder .
I’ve seen this before, and always figured that it was something along these lines, but I didn’t know the exact rules. I realize that this is a pretty basic tradition that any private should know, so please forgive my ignorance. I’m learning. If anyone has anything to add or any corrections, drop them in the comments. I know that a lot of MO readers don’t know all these details, but are interested in learning. That also applies to at least one MO writer.
And congratulations to the men and women of the 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division.
A chunk of space rock will be a quasi-moon of the Earth for the next couple of years. Cool.
Go look at this pic. I wonder if that monk got an extra dollar.
(via Backroad Blog)
UPDATE:Seems that the pic on Yahoo! is gone. Here’s a smaller shot.
Also, for a video, check this out.
James at Hell in a Handbasket notes that MadOgre notes Japan has built their first BattleMech. As James says:
They say it’s supposed to be used for rescue work. Yeah, sure. Rescue work!
And that “tank” the Brits were working on was to transport water.
UPDATE 05/18/2005: The news story’s link is gone, so I’m posting the pic from Hell in a Handbasket:
That’s gotta be a Warhammer prototype…
I happened across some pictures I hadn’t seen before of the 101st Airborne Division troopers firing TOWs at the building where Uday and Qusay were hiding last July.
Don’t forget the pic featured on Strategy Page last summer of these same soldiers firing.
I linked to that picture in a later post on the Stryker where I noted that claims of the TOW missile not being a usable in an urban environment didn’t seem to hold water considering that they were already being fired from Humvees in an urban environment. A reader commented at the time
It is pretty obvious that the commander of that operation was going to bring up the TOWs and since they are not designedfor urban warfare, he pulled his troops back out of harm’s way. I can’t tell what that is on the ground but it is fragments of something. Good thing the troops weren’t there when those were made. Smart commander.
I didn’t really think much of it at the time, but upon seeing these pictures I realize what the fragments on the ground are. The ones that the smart commander pulled his troops back out of harms way for. They’re shell casings and links from a machine gun.
Clicking on the pics above will take you to a (much) larger version. If you look at the one of the TOW launch, you will see brass and links all over the hood of the Humvee in the foreground. Good thing that smart commander obviously pulled his troops back from that dangerous brass.
I think it’s safe to say that Stryker tires won’t be shredded when they fire a TOW, which is what the original discussion was about.
Also, the pic of the crowd watching the hit on the building has two gentlemen with black tight-fitting helmets in among the troopers. Are those maybe Special Forces? I seem to recall that they took part in the operation that netted Saddam’s sons. I thought they didn’t like their picture taken.
UN Commission on Human Rights Condemns Israel for Killing Sheikh Yassin
Darren Kaplan points this nugget out, which is just another reason why the UN’s credibility is suffering (and I’m being generous).
Statebuilding proceeds in Iraq
Drezner notes a WaPo story about a deal that would disarm two major militias in Iraq, the Shiite Badr Brigade and the Kurdish Pesh Merga. Many members of each would be rolled into national police and military forces.
This is a good thing. I wrote last fall about the Badr Brigade, and that we needed to find a way for them to contribute to Iraq’s return to statehood.
Before we know it, the Iraqi people may actually be running Iraq. Then what? Well, besides complete victory, I mean. And US troops coming home by the boatload. Yet some are trying to spin this into another US defeat.
and
What we want are organized, motivated, and capable security forces that have the respect and blessing of the Iraqi people. These guys may fit the bill. Why don’t we work with them? As happy as many Iraqis are that we’re over there, the sight of US Marines or soldiers marching around can’t really instill any pride into their hearts. Why don’t we see if we can’t use the re-emergence of the Badr Brigade to everyone’s advantage? Let’s offer to train them, which is the type of things that US Special Forces are excellent at. Let’s offer to assist them set up permanent shop. Let’s buy them uniforms or something. Let’s include a Badr Brigade element in our patrols around Najaf. Not only could it ease tensions, but there would be real value in having Iraqi guys with ours as they interact with the populace. This is the sort of thing, if done right, that could become an Iraqi legend in the years to come.
and
If we’ve got willing people who have the respect of the Iraqi living in the area, we should try to incorporate them into the plan. Maybe a sprinkling of Badr Brigade men into the official police (after background checks) would add some legitimacy to a group that sorely lacks it right now. Maybe a couple of Badr Brigade platoons under police command could be a sort of SWAT force.
This is dangerous ground, of course, since the Badr Brigade has ties to Iranian groups that go back decades. These guys will have to be checked out before they’re sworn in. But I’ve got to think that putting them on the street in an official capacity after organized training is going to pay off big-time.
No one likes to be occupied by a foreign army. And while most Iraqi people are happy to be free of Saddam, it can’t make them proud to know that it was outsiders who freed them. I think that many of the problems facing the nascent Iraqi government are going to have to be solved largely by Iraqis. Iraqi military and police forces still have a war on their hands. We need to support them when they need it, but they are going to have to take on the load.
Demobilizing these militias will lessen the chances of a major internal Iraqi war, and it will strengthen the government’s anti-terrorist forces at the same time. And Iraqis will have a chance to get some home-grown heroes. (via WoC)
NASA to Fly Unmanned X-43A Test Plane Saturday
The scramjet-powered X-43A will give it another go this weekend. Target: Mach 7.
More on the Clarke statements from 2002 contrasted to what he’s saying today on the air and in his new book…
Although I think the invasion of Iraq was justified and a good idea, I DO agree that it pulled resources from the bin Laden front. Unless Clarke was lying in those 2002 statements, though, Bush not only kept the Clinton policies going, but he upped the ante some.
Clarke may have been just reading from a script in that session, but isn’t most of what he said verifiable? If it’s true, a lot of criticisms I’ve heard about the pre-9/11 anti-terrorism efforts pretty much evaporate. If what Clarke said isn’t true, then of course those criticisms remain possibly valid.
But doesn’t Clarke lose some credibility if he A) Was in the loop, and B) Sold those lies as truth? That doesn’t discount what’s in the book, which of course can be investigated and possibly verified true or false. But if he lied in 2002 for political reasons, why should we be so eager to believe him now? And if he didn’t know he wasn’t telling the truth in 2002, as in he was just reading a script and he didn’t realize it was false, then he must have been out of the loop already and again his credibility suffers.
I will agree that what he claims in the book may be verifiable, but let’s at least wait until someone verifies it before proclaiming the book another nail in Bush’s coffin.
(This is from a comment I left on Nonplussed)
I read a piece on Talking Points Memo discussing the Clarke background briefing on Bush’s pre-9/11 anti-terrorism policies.
Interestingly, the transcript has thus far only appeared on the White House-subservient Fox News network, which may be a point that bears watching.
I googled news, and indeed (as of this writing, at least) the only hit I got was on FoxNews.com.
One question, though. If FoxNews is “White House-subservient”, does that make the other networks White House-resisting? Or how about White House-contradicting? Why not?
(via Nonplussed)
